1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manipulating apparatus including a chassis provided with a manipulating portion with which an input manipulation is carried out, and a mobile terminal including the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, there has been known an electronic apparatus including directional keys with which input manipulations can be carried out up, down, right and left, respectively. A mobile terminal such as a game console, and a controller which is connected to a stationary game console, a Personal Computer (PC) or the like can be given as such an electronic apparatus. A controller for a game console including a key top main body which is provided in a housing main body composed of an upper half and a lower half, and with which a pair of contacts disposed on a circuit board within the housing main body is depressed has been known as such a controller. This controller for a game console, for example, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,326 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
In the controller for a game console described in Patent Document 1, the key top main body has such a construction that a plurality of key tops each exposed to the outside of the housing main body are formed integrally with one another. Also, when the desired key top of a plurality of key tops is depressed, a leg portion of an elastic body (contact rubber) interposed between the key top main body and the circuit board and corresponding to the desired key top thus depressed is buckled in such a manner. When the leg portion of the elastic body is buckled, a depressing portion provided inside the leg portion depresses a movable contact portion. Also, when the movable contact portion thus depressed, and a fixed contact portion on the circuit board electrically contact each other, an input manipulation using the desired key top is detected by the circuit board concerned. A click feeling is caused for a user in a phase of the buckling of such an elastic body and thus a user can known as much about the key input. Therefore, by providing such an elastic body, a manipulation property of the controller is enhanced.
However, the controller for a game console described in Patent Document 1 involves such a problem that it is difficult to promote the thinning of the controller itself because a height size of the elastic body (a size in a direction of expansion and contraction of the elastic body) is large.
Giving a detailed description, the elastic body disposed on the circuit board is composed of the approximately cylindrical leg portion and the depressing portion. In this case, the approximately cylindrical leg portion extends so as to protrude from the circuit board. Also, the depressing portion is provided at a tip, of the leg portion, in an extension direction, and serves to depress a movable contact portion. By buckling the leg portion in the manner as described above, the depressing portion depresses the movable contact portion. When such an elastic body is used, a space for the expansion and contraction of the leg portion needs to be provided between the circuit board and the key top portion. As a result, there is encountered such a problem that it is difficult to promote the thinning of the controller.
From such a problem, the construction allowing the thinning of the controller to be promoted has been described up to this day.
In addition, in the controller for a game console described in Patent Document 1, the elastic body urges the key top main body in a direction along which the key top main body is moved away from the circuit board so that a base portion of the key top main body is brought into contact with an end edge of an opening portion of the upper half of the housing main body, and a recess portion of the key top main body is brought into contact with a key top central supporting portion of the upper half of the housing main body. As a result, the key top main body is maintained within a housing main body. However, such a construction involves a problem that a thickness size of the controller becomes larger because the elastic bodies the leg portion of desired one of which is buckled in accordance with the depressing of desired one of the key tops need to be provided so as to correspond to the contacts, respectively.